Gemotions

The discovery sent a jolt through Clara. The object, small and unassuming, lay in the park, half-buried near the old oak tree. She crouched low, her breath catching in her throat as she carefully opened the lid. It wasn’t the contents that gave her a start; it was the date etched on the inside. A date… she was sure it was wrong.

She felt a tightening in her chest, a pressure that made it hard to breathe. The world seemed to shrink around her. She squeezed her eyes shut, but the numbers kept flashing behind her eyelids. A sense of wrongness, deep and fundamental, washed over her. She scrambled away, leaving the capsule behind.